texas is the journal 1 dw-tv. -- >> this is the journal on dw- tv. >> delayed stress test in arlin say banks need billions more to cover bad real-estate loans. >> and there are fresh fears of nuclear contamination in japan after reports of huge levels of radiation in ground water near the fukushima power plant. u.n. troops in the ivory coast have taken control of the

airport as the fighting there escalates. the united nations and the u.s. have called on the leader to step down and hand over power to demand -- the man international recognized to have one the last election. they have reached the outskirts of the city. >> cowering behind closed doors, these men in a hotel room in abidjan are in the same situation as many in the city, fearful of being caught in the crossfire. witnesse saidbusinesses are closed and anyone who can has fled. shots have been heard ringing out over the city. for days, forces have been viewed -- losing ground. they have been called on to switch sides. >> to anyone who is still hesitating, whether generals,

officers, under officers, or soldiers of other ranks -- whoever you may be, i caca on you to put yourself out the service of your country. >> on wednesday, the unit end security council -- the u.n. security council hit him with fresh sanctions and the body explicitly called on the election loser to finally hand over power. let's see if the ivers test results are in here. >> and not looking too good. the latest results show that the situations for -- the situation for ireland's banks havhas beguo worsen rather than get better. it may need to raise 24 billion euros to cover their loans. the 85 billion euro bailout has

already been agreed upon with the european union and the imf. >> bailing out the banks has already pushed ireland to the bank of -- the brink of bankruptcy. it has forced them to take loans from brussels. the bank lost huge amounts when the commercial sector burst. so far, ireland has had to pump 46 billion euros into its stricken banks, and a cash injection of another 24 billion euros would make 70 billion. that is almost half of the entire country's annual gdp. the irish finance minister created two new universal banks. >> for more on the stress test, i spoke earlier to our brussels correspondent, tony kolly. i ask first about the reaction

to the deal on the table. >> one said that at least it was not 40 or 50 million, the horrendous figures that had been floated recently. there is some relief that figure is within the 35 billion contingency, which is enshrined in the imf program for ireland, so we do not have to go back to tap a special mechanism of more money. but nonetheless, is a huge figure and put another burden on the irish state and ultimately, taxpayers will have to pay this money back. >> what will they do given that portugal may soon need an even bigger rescue package? >> right now, it does not appear that t ty will have to put their hands deeper into their pockets because there is 35 billion with the imf in that fund to cover

banking losses. the other thing the irish government had hoped to tackle was the senior bond holder where private investors, if you like, in irish banks would have to share some of the burden. it looks like the government has retreated from some of that. the weather that is under pressure from the ecb is not clear yet. >> and portugals problems are de in with data revealed on thursday showing that the budget deficit is bigger than forecast for 2010. it is 8.6% of gdp, significantly overshooting the 7.3% originally estimated. it came after the inclusion of 1.8 billion euros in losses at the nationalized bank. the new caretaker government in portugal is stickingb. the budget deficit will be down

2.46% of gdp. >> as the u.s. debate its future role in a libyan conflict, defense officials in washington have slam the brakes on any prada american participation. defense secretary robert gates says there will be no ground troops in the as long as he is on the job. guay to sketch out a largely limited role for the country's military. he also said that some other country could train the rebels trying to oust muammar gaddafi. fighting between rebels and muammar gaddafi's troops continues. >> their attacks failed and hours later, rebels are forced to retreat. despite almost two weeks of u.n.-backed air strikes, the

gaddafi regime is far from won. the u.s. defense secretary said his military would not provide rebels with training. >> in terms of providing the training, in terms ofroviding assistance to them,ç frankly, there are many countries that can do that. that is not a unique capability for the u.s. and as far as i'm concerned, somebody else should do that. >> nato, which has taken over formal command of the military operations, has rejected the idea of arming the rebels. its mission has been limited to infrastructure and ground troops. it says it will continue enforcing a u.n. arms in barbaro. >> nato will fully implement parts of the u.n. security council resolution, that is, we are there to protect the libyan people, not to alarm people.

>> it has emerged that the u.s. and britain have set -- sent a secret intelligence agents into libya, despite their insistence they will not use ground troops to help overthrow gaddafi. >> as we heard in that report, nato is unwilling to arm libyan civilians. why are member nations divided over the issue? >> it is simply because the number of nato nations -- a number of nato nations have made it clear they do not believe that will be covered by the current u.n. resolution under which nato is operating there. that resolution is designed primarily to protect civilian life, but it also sets up an arms embargo. therefore, a number of countries have made it clear that the idea of giving weaponry to one set of libyans would simply be a step too far. >> in yemen, their rival

demonstrations for and against the president there on thursday. thousands of anti-government protesters were joined by the members of armed forces, demanding that the president steps down. the opposition has rejected an offer that he stay in office through the end of the year with his presidential powers transferred to a caretaker government. the people have had a demonstration of their own, waiting drums and -- beating drums and waving pictures of the president. radiation levels at the fukushima power plant are 10 times above that of normal. but they do not believe the drinking water supply has been affected. germany is one of several countries providing the engineers there with technical support and equipment. >> this huge truck-mounted pump is on its way to japan.

the german equipment will be used to cool the reactors at the fukushima plant. the pump's telescopic arm is over 60 meters long, allowing workers to keep their distance when spring water at a radioactive target. >> they also have a built-in fire extinguisher. our palms were used during the reactor disaster in chernobyl as well. >> at french president nicholas sarkozy has arrived in tokyo, the first foreign leader to visit japan since the earthquake and tsunami hit almost three weeks ago. >> japan is a country that is always prepared and quick to assist when there are disasters elsewhere. the world recognizes this generosity. now it is time to return the generosity and solidarity. >> france is providing technical expertise to help japan deal with the nuclear crisis. french nuclear reactor maker is

advising on removing highly radioactive water from fukushima. meanwhile, radiation continues to lead from the plant. radiation levels beside the facility have risen to 4000 times ththlegal limit. they have now been detected radiation in the ground water in the area. at 50 kilometers away, newborn children are being checked for radiation. >> i am so scared about radiation in the water. as the situation continues, i get more worried. >> but the japanese government has not about to pressure to extend the 20 kilometer evacuation plan on the plan to, despite the recommendation of the iaea. >> thursday did bring more good news for germany's economy, new unemployment figures showed that the number of people out of work in europe's largest economy fell by over 100,000. the number of job-seekers in

march came in at 3,210,000, meaning the unemployment rate now stands at 7.6%. the federal labor agency says it expects unemployment to continue to decline in coming months as the german economy continues to strengthen. >> unemployment usually falls in the spring. that is when the construction sector tends to picks up -- to pick up after their winter lull. but this time, the improvement is also being driven by a general strengthening of the economy. >> demand for workers has increased by one percentage point. that is not much when compared to previous months, but is 1% of a large number. >> in the labor agency says the japan crisis has not affected the jobs market. there are fears a shortage of japanese supplies could halt some german production, but the agency says, there have been no

applications for short-time working benefits as a result. >> we will have more on the labour market coming up on the journal with heather. european shares went into decline in reaction to ring inflatio data, and the expectation that will be leading to higher interest rates in the near future. our correspondents and does this summary from frankfurt. >> ireland and portugal are bearers of bad news in the eurozone, but the bureau was strong anyway. how does that fit together? the prices in the eurozone climbed by an annualised 2.6% in march. that is way too fast and way too much in the eyes of the european central bank. that is why everyone here in the financial markets agrees there will be a hike in the interest rates, the lead interest rates in the ecb next week and probably not the last one this year. that makes the euro more attractive.

the up and down stock market brings worries over the crisis in japan and in north africa. >> germany's blue-chip dax finished the day a little over 7031 point. across the atlantic in new york, the dow finished at the top of the hour at 12,00319. -- 12,319. an airline flight attendants struggling to lift his baguette a german airport led to the discovery of a three -- lift his bag at a german airport led to the discovery of a three-year point smuggling operation. prosecutors have arrested six people suspected of spot smuggling the coins scrapped by

germany's central bank after they were stuck back together in china. >> when euro coins get too old or damage, they are removed from circulation, broken apart, and sold off as scrap metal, some of them to china. that is where 29 metric tons of one and two your coins were pieced back together and exchanged for 6 million euros at the bundesbank. >> we began our investigation after we received reports of suspected money laundering from certain banks. as part of our investigation, we discovered a flight attendant at the airport who was carrying a very large number of coins in his luggage. >> lufthansa flight attendants appear to have been accomplices in this camp, reimporting the coins to germany. the case is particularly controversy and, since the bundesbank is the body responsible for removing the

money from circulation. >> you would think after three years his arms would have been a bit stronger. >> [laughter] police in germany have arrested a man they say was planning a bomb attack outside a soccer stadium. officers say they found and defused three devices at the bundesliga club borussia dortmund. the man's plan is unclear, but there is no indication that he had links to terrorist groups. germans -- the german foreign minister has a three-day visit to china. he said, china needed to press ahead with positive changes begun at the time of the olympic games. it is overshadowed by beijing's failure to issue a travel visa

for part of his party. on saturday, he is due to fly on to tokyo. you're watching the journal.

>> germans, both men and women, are working longer and going into retirement years later than their predecessors did in the 1980's and 1990's. that is the finding of an oecb report released in march, which finds that on average, men retire at 62 and women at 61. that puts germans just below the middle of 34 ranked nations. they retire later than workers in austria, luxembourg and france, but earlier than those in south korea, iceland, and japan, for example. many of them work until they are 70. hard-pressed to find and keep top notch labor, they are now

attempting to accommodate the work force. >> he works for the chemical giant's basf. he is 58. 52-year-old christina is a tram driver. and this musician is a pensioner at 67, but has no plans to retire. this man often uses the gym at the basf plant. the company offers facilities like these to help them keep it. >> it is important to help us concentrate. working nights and days can be demanding. we work a 12-hour shift, which means 14 to 16 days out and about. staying fit is important. >> and while basf wants its employees to stay fit, the company has also invested in the

work conditions. >> a few years ago, we had to stay outside, whatever the weather, and uncouple the tank cars and watched over them as they were being loaded. it is easier now, we have two cameras installed up there. we use them to keep an eye on things. >> up until a few years ago, older workers were just written off. now he has a warm room to work from. basf wants to keep skilled employees like him as long as possible. the young people with the necessary know-how are increasingly hard to find. the company installed this lived for its older workers. it means the over 50's can cover the workload, too. >> if you have to climb up those stairs two or three times, then you are exhausted. if you have to do it two or

three times a day, it takes it out of you. >> the workers need help with this job, too. basf invested in making it easier here as well. >> these sacks alway 25 kilos. we have to throw six or 7 tons of them into containers every night. this machine makes it a lot easier and our backs are not under as much strain. >> as the conditions are in place to keep older workers, for logger, this man is still taking -- keep older workers for longer, but this man is still taking early retirement. >> i cannot imagine wanting or being able to work here at 67. i am leaving year when i am 60. >> the seven years too early from basf's of you. employment researchers say the

earth -- the era of early retirement will soon be at an end. >> 10 years ago, about 40% of people over 55 were e rking. now it is more than half. we will see an increasingly bigger proportion of older workers in the future and that is something companies will have to prepare for. >> the drivers at the local transport corp. are, on average, almost 50 years old. this is a tram drivers, christina, age 52. conversations between colleagues here before the show begins often touched on pensions, early retirement, and the growing stress of traffic. >> your reaction time and

things, you get slower with age. because of the whole shift system, your happy when you have time off and can recover a little. especially for workers like me. >> varying shift * can have a mental effect. age has an effect. >> the ongoing change between day shift to ninth shift, sittinindown for hours, and the attention of the traffic all take their toll on the health of the workers. but the employers only offer some physical therapy for back problems and reduced night shifts for older workers. khristine also wants to retire early. -- christina also wants to retire early. >> i do not want an -- want to work until i'm 67. when i am 62, i will have reached 45 years of paid employment. if someone would offer me

something so i could take early retirement, then i would accept it. >> she will have time to fulfill a few dreams. the >> i have not really thought about it. we like going places on holiday and always try to. if we could afford it, would like to see more of the world. >> the transport corporation would like to keep christina until she is 67, but to do that, this company, like many more in germany, needs to do more for its older workers. >> they have to offer health programs and they have to make it clear that older workers are welcome. so that these older workers do not write themselves off mentally when they are 50 or 55. in all, we need a new philosophy of management.

>> conrad has no plans to retire. he grew up in the former east germany. as a musician, a trombone player, he followed his own path even then. now he is 67 and he receives a state pension, but he wants to keep working. that is becoming increasingly uncommon. pensioners like him look for something to do to keep active. in his case, he does concert and studio work and composes music. >> if i had to live off of my pension, then things would be pretty sad. i paid in for 40 years and i was never that poorly off, but what i get now just covers the rent

on my apartment. ♪ >> conrad and his colleagues do not work for a largegeompany that can offer them support. there is no one to encourage them to take care of themselves cunha when despite their rage they have to get up and perform -- to take care of themselves. despite their age they have to get up and perform ha to take care of themselves. >> it would not be as much fun, especially not being able to play anymore. it would be terrible, enough to make you sick. now have to keep on playing until i drop. >> but not an ideal solution. a new approach is needed to work into old age. next germany's aging population,

that has been our in-depth look into the demographic problems. you are watching dw-tv. please stay with us if you can.

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